Thank God for the internet!

I find it interesting that we've found out that Mr Buffett has bought Posco in Jan and now a railroad. Clearly he doesnt think these old world stocks are slowing down. However, what I find most interesting in this story is he has basically a 60/40 stock to cash position. And a 1/3 fixed income to stock position. That stock to fixed income seems a little conservative but the stock to cash is very conservative. I wonder if that suggest he thinks stocks will become cheaper and he is waiting and/or there is not much out there that is worth buying right now. Essentially he may think stocks are a bit rich??


Buffett's Berkshire buys big Burlington stake
Legendary investor's firm takes stake of more than 10% in railroad Burlington Northern.
April 7 2007: 2:09 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has bought a stake of more than 10 percent in railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. that's worth about $3.2 billion, according to a filing with regulators.

The legendary investor's firm and its subsidiaries have acquired about 39 million shares of the Texas-based railroad, Berkshire Hathaway (Charts) said in an S-4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday.


Buffett is perhaps the world's most widely imitated investor.
Burlington Northern (Charts), based in Fort Worth, Texas, has about 358 million shares outstanding. The company's stock closed at $82.72, up about 1.3 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday. The stock market was closed for Good Friday.

The acquisition of Burlington stock is believed to be the first time that Buffett's firm has bought a stake in a railroad.

His other holdings include or have included American Express (Charts), Coca-Cola (Charts), Wells Fargo (Charts) and Chinese oil company PetroChina (Charts).

Buffett, 76, said in Berkshire's annual report released last month that he plans to hire a younger person - or perhaps more than one - to understudy him in managing Berkshire's investments.

Buffett said he will be helped in his search by Lou Simpson, 70, who has managed the investments of Berkshire subsidiary GEICO for more than 25 years, and by Berkshire's vice-chairman, Charles Munger.

At the end of 2006, Berkshire had $61 billion in equity investments; $28 billion in fixed-income securities; and cash holdings of $43 billion.

I have only recently started watching Cramer. I wanted to try buying the SHCL stock that he recommended. I am a college student and he recommended this even for people like me.

Here's the problem - I want to buy a share, but alll the online trading sites I found require at least $500 to start. I only want to buy this one stock and see what happens.

I would really appreciate some help with this.

These caught my eye:

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/...55203896452095

CNN Press Release: "What would Jesus really do?

Where would Jesus stand on the war in Iraq, world hunger, global warming? Preachers Jerry Falwell, T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren and others debate how churches should confront these issues." (8pm EDT)
[But not about paying your Fair Tax: (Mark 12:13-17; the same passage appears, slightly modified, in Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26)]

"20/20" press release: "Could Breast Implants be a Motive for Murdering Your Husband? They seemed like the perfect couple, but now Marine Sergeant Todd Sommer is dead, and Cindy Sommer is behind bars. When most wives would be mourning, she got breast implants and partied in Tijuana. But does that make her a murderer? (BOOYAH Moment)

Lottery Curse? Jack Whittaker won more than $300 million in the Powerball lottery, but all his dreams didn't come true when he hit the jackpot. Watch the full story this Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. EDT."

Alright, I'm somewhat of a newbie. I don't active trade in real life, I just do it on these simulators which is really fun in my opinion. On all of these charts from www.stockcharts.com (which is the best site, isn't it?) I find myself looking at these charts and noticing the candlesticks, and the squiggly lliens which I have no idea what they mean. I know that if the MACD lines intersect then that shows momentum. But could someone please explain to me what the oter lines on a chart like this mean, and how well they determine a upward climb or downward fall?

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Anyone with information on any of the following stocks as good investments?

HK
HOS
MIND

Thanks...

Mark
Redondo Beach CA

Hate to bring you down, but...

http://digg.com/videos/comedy/John_C...his_own_eulogy

JL, was that you? Either one heck of a coincidence, somebody with a sense of humor or just payback for that video I posted and the ensuing debate.

I don't know about you, but I do quite a bit of conversions and thought i'd share this domain with a great conversion chart for those of you who do.

http://www.thetipsbank.com/convert.htm

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http://www.theonion.com/content/vide..._good_for_your

Why Does Bill O?Reilly Hate Our Troops and American Values?
By: SilentPatriot on Monday, April 2nd, 2007 at 2:46 PM - PDT

Bill O'Reilly abuses and cuts the mic of retired Colonel Ann Wright, 29-year veteran of the US Army, after she refuses to fall victim to his leading, dishonest questions and smear tactics. Apparently in Bill's demented world, criticizing the actions of President Bush in explicitly violating international law ? something Col. Wright spent years teaching ? constitutes "blaming" America.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/0...erican-values/

I am a patron of the Giulio Gari foundation.
http://www.giuliogari.org/
The Giulio Gari Foundation was established to reward young singing talent in an annual competition and to present the winners with scholarships at concerts introducing them to the public.

If anyone knows of a young person who may be interested in competing, or if anyone here would be interested in attending one of the upcoming events, PM me and I'll give you the necessary info to do so.
I would also be willing to give away a couple of seats to one of our regulars who would like to attend. I have 2 extra tickets for tomorrows event at the NY Athletic Club. Short notice but if you can make it, it's a nice evening. This is the place where they give out the Heisman trophy by the way.
The 2007 competition is on three days in May (16,17,18 ) and again I'll give a pair of tickets to a regular who is interested.
The website gives details, if you're an opera fan, you'll enjoy it, and I'll make the donation.

http://www.thestreet.com/markets/mar.../10347773.html

I am

I scored 200

I took it twice

I am a good lad

I plan on taking it again, so I will be a very good lad

I got it to work, but it's not as fast as they say.

http://www.google.com/tisp/

NOT the Flat Tax!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...YouAFavor.aspx

This is an old article, but really hits the nail on the head:

"Spiraling" Oil Prices and "Obscene" Profits
by Larry Elder (May 7, 1999)

On April 30, motorists nationwide staged the "Great American Gas-Out," to protest "spiraling" gas prices. And when consumers complain, rest assured politicians will do something dumb to make them happy. It didn't take long.

In California, something called the Senate Transportation and Energy committee quickly held hearings, summoning oil company executives and demanding that they "justify" their price "gouging." The executives offered "explanations" -- OPEC cutbacks, fires at refineries, California's expensive "clean air" fuel requirements, blah, blah, blah. But what's wrong with this picture?

Say you put your house up for sale. You find a buyer willing to pay nearly $15,000 more than the listed price. But three days later, you get a letter in the mail from something called the State Department of Excessive Profits: "Dear Homeowner, We understand that you received substantially more than the listed price for your home. Please report Monday morning, at 9:30 a.m. to our downtown office, to explain your excessive profits. You may wish to consult counsel."

Most of us work for a living. At the end of the year, many of us seek raises. Do we worry about whether we "gouged" our employer? Or do we seek the maximum amount based on what we perceive to be our contribution to the enterprise?

Where does the state get off asking a private employer to "justify" profits? The correct answer is that given by Robert De Niro in the movie "Guilty by Suspicion" about the Hollywood blacklist. The House Committee on Un-American Activities sought names of communist sympathizers. De Niro refused, shouting, "Don't you have any shame?!"

Did oil companies "take advantage" of consumers' demand for gasoline? As President Clinton might have said, define "take advantage." Oil companies charge what the market will bear, as do Wendy's, Wal-Mart and Barbra Streisand for a concert ticket. Got a problem with that? Is there a law against making a buck, something that benefits the employees as well as the shareholders?


People defending President Clinton against charges of perjury and obstruction of justice argued that he answered a question that "never should have been asked in the first place." Let's apply that here. No business person, operating lawfully, should ever be asked to explain profits. And implicit in the question is the absurd notion that oil executives can charge whatever they want, whenever they want, for as long as they want, without a consumer backlash -- a backlash that may mean buying more fuel-efficient cars, moving closer to work, carpooling or shopping more aggressively for cheaper gas.

I though this might come in handy for some of you, because I can already hear the collective starting to become riled, and thinking up conspiracy theories.

Take the RBOB spot price in NY currently $2.1365 (.booyah) and add about 62 cents for a pretty close estimate. Those in CA can add more...much more.

Here's a government site with breakdown on costs for CA by the individual day:

http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/margins/index.html

The following link is for the actual taxes in each state:

http://www.floridastategasprices.com/tax_info.aspx

Airlines are so flush with cash that they can generate this kind of pr I guess

http://www.wftv.com/travelgetaways/1...503292007&ts=H

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/bu...pagewanted=all

scottrade.com allows no user-defined logins. Instead it REQUIRES an account number. Not only is that rather poor security for a financial site, it's extremely user unfriendly. We're talking web site design 101.

I've reported this several times to Scot Trade only to receive an auto-response. I've also reported it personally to branch office personnel to no effect. Does anyone know of a site or method through which I can report this. Something like "lamewebsitedesignforum.com." I've found no such site but feel there should be as scottrade.com is unresponsive.

I love it - OSU marches on to the Final Four and out classed that dead beat Calipari!!!!!

I saw this and couldn't resist

So my brother works for PGR and Fidelity handles the 401k. He asks me to take a look at it as he realizes the stock and the company are not exactly inspiring confidence.

So after I poke around in his account I find that he is not allowed to transfer out of his PGR holdings, I guess he's supposed to ride it down a la Enron, (notice the board members have been selling though)

Anyhow, other than changing his contribution percentage to zero in that holding, does anyone know of any rights he has as far as selling his company's stock?

blatantly filched from et. im really glad to hear more excuses for not getting proper fills.

SEC Cuts Big Board Specialists Some Slack Peter Chapman


The Securities and Exchange Commission relieved New York Stock Exchange specialists from certain trading restrictions.
The regulator approved a Big Board proposal to amend its Rule 104 to permit specialists to trade for their own accounts in a less constrained fashion. The SEC cited changes to the trading environment brought on by Regulation NMS as the basis for its decision.
Specifically, the amendments give specialists latitude in two areas. First, they eliminate the requirement that specialists satisfy their "negative obligations" on a trade-by-trade basis.
Second, the amendments let specialists trade with (as opposed to against) the direction of the market regardless of the price at which they trade. Previously, specialists could not buy on an uptick or sell on a downtick when increasing or establishing a position without the consent of an NYSE floor official.
Along with specialists' "affirmative obligation," which requires them to stabilize prices by trading, their negative obligation is a key principle that guides their trading behavior. The negative obligation requires specialists to refrain from trading unless necessary to stabilize prices. Previously, the specialists were judged as to whether or not they were living up to their negative obligations on a trade-by-trade basis. Also, they could not buy as stocks were increasing in price or sell as they fell when increasing or establishing a position without NYSE approval.
The Big Board argued that the implementation of its hybrid market model and the SEC's Reg NMS made these two parameters obsolete. An increase in volume and the speed of trading would make monitoring every trade and every tick too difficult and less relevant.
The SEC agreed, mostly. It permitted the NYSE to monitor specialists' compliance with their negative obligations on a broader "patterns and practices," rather than on a trade-by-trade, basis. It also gave specialists, on a trial basis, permission to trade with the market at any price in the performance of their negative obligation. A pilot will run through June 30. Compared with its problems in securing SEC approval for its hybrid marketplace, the NYSE faced little opposition to amending Rule 104.
Its sole critic was a Chicago consultant named George Rutherfurd who argued that the rule changes would result in the insertion of specialists into trades where they did not belong, which would force public investors to miss out on fills. Rutherfurd believes the changes amount to a rescission of the specialists' negative obligation.
The SEC said that the elimination of the tick requirements allow for a "significant shift in the roles and obligations of specialists." Because of that the SEC is only liberalizing the rules for stocks in the S&P 500 and a few others on a trial basis. Permanent liberalization depends on the result of an SEC examination of market quality figures at the end of the trial.
(c) 2007 Traders Magazine and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.tradersmagazine.com
http://www.sourcemedia.com

Security Council approves new sanctions on Iran

POSTED: 4:47 p.m. EDT, March 24, 2007
Story Highlights? NEW: U.S. prepared to take further action, ambassador says
? NEW: Goal is good decision by Iran, British ambassador says
? Measure pushing suspension of uranium enrichment gains unanimous OK
? Western nations contend Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons
? Resolution follows trade limits approved in December



UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The 15-member U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose new sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

The acting U.S. representative to the United Nations, Alejandro D. Wolff, said after the vote:

"While we hope that Iran complies with this resolution ... the United States is fully prepared to take additional measures in 60 days should Iran choose another course." He didn't elaborate.

Western nations, including the United States, contend Iran is using the program to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran says the technology will only be for civilian use.

The new measures follow a resolution adopted December 23 that prohibited trade with Iran in nuclear materials and ballistic missiles. It also froze assets of individuals and institutions involved in Tehran's nuclear programs.

The sanctions, agreed on last week by the five Security Council countries with veto power and Germany, would ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 additional individuals and organizations involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs. About a third of those are linked to the Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.

The resolution also calls for a voluntary travel embargo on Iranian officials and Revolutionary Guard commanders.

Several council members spoke before the vote, stressing that they prefer political negotiation over imposition of sanctions.

"This resolution is about the need to build international confidence in Iran's nuclear program," said Rezlan Ishar Jenie, the representative from Indonesia.

The British ambassador to the United Nations, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, who led the six-nation group, said after the vote, "The path of proliferation by Iran is not one that the international community can accept.

doing some random googling, found this throwback.

http://chronicstocks.com/tracker/cmm...ex.php?paged=5

crazy % moves with all those pennies.

.


http://abcnews.go.com/2020/print?id=2976684

Anyone in this forum heard about this or use the product? I guess its really big in Florida. Some of my friends in Cleveland are making a really good amount of money on the side.

.



http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

http://www.stockpickr.com/

(1) I give a site or download 30-seconds to make its case, or I am out of there--I will spend ever more time drilling down and learning IF I can grasp the concept quickly

(2) I am pro the Google Look: grab me quick, THEN pull me in ever deeper to your goodies

(3) In programs, Word is an example of a program you can use quickly, then drill down to the goodies as you need them, or discover you need them--but right off, you can use the program--ditto Google Search

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has been a nice two days to be long. im just about all cash for chairman bernanke's decision tomorrow. with the down time, i will be catching up on some overdue correspondence with friends. enjoy!

I think this shows who's in control of this situation, because of course the oil companies are known for coming forward of their own accord,lol

DJ Sen Feinstein:To Draft Bill To Extend 98-99 Oil, Gas Leases -2


"I believe those companies are waiting to see if, in fact, there's going to be action taken by Congress," Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in his testimony before the appropriations committee.
Feinstein told Dow Jones Newswires as she was leaving the hearing that her staff was drafting the lease-extension legislation recommended by the Interior Department. The DoI recommended extending the leases three years, and in return seek payment for royalties on past and future production from the leases.
The chairwoman said she also had support for the bill from ranking member Larry Craig, R-Idaho.
"I believe it will give the companies the opportunity to step forward," Craig said.

-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires, 202 862 9285, ian.talley@dow jones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2007 11:08 ET (15:08 GMT)

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...&dist=printTop





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Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler -- Albert Einstein